The Pursuit of Passion: Tyrone Evans Clark

Tyrone Evans Clark is an amazing entertainer, model, dancer, actor, singer, comedian, web designer, game programmer, and a businessman. He is famously known for his work on “Homeless Sam & Sally” (2019), “Reverie” (2018) and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (2009). Clark owns and manages Tyrone Evans Clark, LLC and hosts a podcast, ‘Call Tyrone,’ where he talks about his daily life in Los Angeles. Tyrone also speaks three languages: English, Spanish and Japanese.

Clark is a 3D Game Programmer & Artist and is considered a modern Creative Entrepreneur. Tyrone has taken his passion for creativity and his talents to carve out a fantastic career. He is originally from Chicago and always had a passion for video games. He graduated from Benton Harbor High School in 2005 with a major in Arts and Communications. In 2010, Clark received a Bachelor Degree of Science in Game and Art Design from the Art Institute of California – Los Angeles. Tyrone is the the ultimate creative and can now be a part of the magic of the next-gen games.

Tyrone has overcome many obstacles to get where he is today. What creates this intense motivation to keep going? Tyrone sat down with Gemma Magazine to talk about his career, his goals and overall creative process.

With such a hard upbringing and incredible obstacles that you had to overcome, what gave you the motivation to never give up? What gave me the motivation to keep going is my past. Around the 90s, I lost my two-year-old brother Carl in a house fire in Berrien Springs, Michigan. The amount of smoke in his lungs tragically took his life. I was at my elementary school at the time when this happened. Police officers came to pick up one of my brothers, along with myself, from school. When we got there, there were news reporters all over the place trying to interview us regarding our brother’s death. Years later, I experienced abuse from people in my family, who I thought were my protectors. I was even homeless numerous times. My pain and suffering, along with this agony of hardship, is what kept me going. I’m sure if I had it easy throughout my life, I probably would’ve been slacking or coming up with tons of excuses. However, I realize that life is a battleground, and you just got to keep fighting until you win. You might lose a few battles, but it’s OK because, at the end of the day, you are victorious.

Have you always been creative since you were a child? I’ve been creative since at the age of five. Around that time I would wait when all the lights were off late at night in Chicago, Illinois and I would pretend as if I was asleep. I brought out all my glow-in-the-dark toys and I would play with them in the dark. My family didn’t know but I would do this every single night. It was something about those fluorescent glowing colors that attracted me late at night kind of like fireflies. I was a kid and I was curious and it just kept me going. This is one of the main sparks that pushed me into being the artist that I am today. I am a firefly or should I say mystical butterfly? I was so attracted to the realistic butterflies on my grandmother’s refrigerator. I was crawling in my grandmothers kitchen and what made me start walking is when I try to catch the butterfly on her refrigerator and then that’s when I started to walk. When my grandmother shared that story with me, I just knew I was someone special.

How were you ableto turn your passion for video games into a career? All my life I had a passion for video games. Some of my favorite video games that I love to play were Mortal Kombat, Tetris, Pac-Man, Mario Brothers, Sonic The Hedgehog, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Street Fighter, and Killer Instinct. Years later I was very fortunate to use my abilities for video games and to make it a career by taking my butt to the Art Institute of California-Los Angeles. It wasn’t easy getting there because I had to apply for a lot of scholarships during my high school years and do tons of volunteer service because you know it’s all about giving back. Later on, when I graduated, I ended up becoming a 3D Artist/Game Programmer for some of the biggest companies out there. One of the companies that I was super honored to work for was Disney Interactive and I was able to work on the whole Disney infinity franchise for the Sony PlayStation, Xbox, and Wii game consoles. Currently, I work as a Senior Staff Graphics 3-D Engineer for Qualcomm. I work on 3-D graphics and create animations with scripts and other 3-D software for car clusters and virtual reality experiences.

Game Content Creators must understand games and why people play them. For, example you better be a devoted gaming expert and who plays video games on a regularly basis

Tyrone Evans Clark

What was it like learning all the computer programs? In the beginning, it was challenging learning the computer programming essentials, but with practice, eventually, I became a pro. A lot of my skills derive from me furthering my education and taking things to the next level by enrolling in online courses such as digital tutors and any other program that allows me to take my skills to the next level. Yes, in the beginning, it was extremely frustrating because life wasn’t always a fairytale, especially working with technology. I’m just grateful that eventually, I figured it all out, “Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.”

“Big Jungle Tree” – Tyrone Evans Clark

What inspires you to take on all the creative endeavors that you do? What inspires me to do the creative work that I do is my past life experiences and living in my day-to-day life. All of my art derives from emotions and energy. Plus, it’s all about what the client wants. I have to pay attention, follow instructions, and of course, allow my creative juices to flow while simultaneously just being free.

Album Cover: “Inside of Me!”

Can you tell us about some of the specific video game projects that you have worked on? When I worked for Storymind Entertainment, (storymind-ent.com) who is located in Ukraine, I created 3-D assets and cool props for the AAA game title “My Eyes On You.” What made this one my favorite is the fact that it’s based on a detective working for the FBI and battling evil located in the slumps/suburbs of Chicago. Plus, I am originally from Chicago, so you know I had to love it and support it! This team is so on point on how Chicago life really can take a bite out of you, but they did pay sincere respect to my upbringing in Chicago.

What sets you apart from other graphic designers? What sets me apart from other graphic designers is the fact that I don’t just do graphics. I also program and create digital interactive media. Most of the time in the industry people refer to me as ‘Mr. left brain’ because I’m always doing odd/bizarre things in the studio scene and people are always trying to figure out how the hell did he do that, but I do it. I kind of feel like a Mad Scientist.. it’s alive ..it’s alive!

Tell us a little about your acting and modeling career? As a model, I’ve done a few runway gigs for Macy’s. I’ve also been in a few TV commercials, along with being one of the faces for the HUNGRI Campaign (nokidhungry.org). As an actor, I’ve been in a few reality shows, films, and music videos. I was in “Just Roommates,” which is a TV series, and I play Evans Mitchell, and this is available on Amazon. I am also one of the dancers/actors on “WOW: Women of Wrestling,” which is available on AXS TV. I was also on E! Entertainment’s Dating #NoFilter, MTV’s “Flex on My Ex,” FOX’s “Phone Swap, LIFETIME’s “Seatbelt Psychic,” Pasadena Media’s “Buzz’d Out” and much more.

Currently, I am producing, directing acting, and creating scripts for a new TV show called “Homeless Sam and Sally.” This show is available on Binge Networks. BingeNetwork(https://www.bingenetworks.tv) is a platform for content developers who want to allow their work to be placed on multiple platforms at once for smart TV devices/outlets. I am also working on new music and currently working on a science fiction/fantasy novel for young adults.

“Homeless Sam and Sally”

Behind the Scenes of “Homeless Sam and Sally”

As busy as you are you have also done some amazing workwith kids. Yes, I am super busy but I’m always proactive and giving back to the community such as the Boys & Girls Club, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, an Elementary School Tutor at Eastern Canada Key Club, and a volunteer at IndieCade. I’ve also been a teacher at a few institutes along with some elementary schools for children with learning disabilities such as STEM3 Academy USC Irvine, UCLA- Summer Discovery and STAR Education.

Gemma Magazine will be watching Tyrone Evans Clark. He’s so talented and has such a bright future. To follow Tyrone on social media:

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Lizzy

I am inspired by fashion, designers, film, and actors. I am very passionate about artists as I feel they bring change to our society. I enjoy interviewing creative souls and sharing their story with my audience. I grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana and have the most beautiful memories of street performers, fine artists, beautiful fashion and so many rich stories from an historic culture. Artists still create a beautiful form of expression in so many forms that tell a story. Follow me on this journey as I keep it as authentic and interesting!